[Valerie]Layla left me alone in the room - to rest, she said. But it’d been almost three hours, by my calculation, and sleep never came.It was sometime around three a.m, when the wind that blew outside assisted the spirits in getting to their respective destinations. My mind and body felt exhausted, but the urge to throw up was nagging my insides again, so I tiptoed to the bathroom and waited. Nothing came up, except my own saliva and a fiery feeling in my throat. I washed my face with cold water, and dabbed it dry with a hand towel.The woman who stared back at me looked different somehow. Her brown eyes were lighter, her jaw more prominent, and hair fell in waves instead of curling. I’d always remembered my face being rounder, lips smaller, and eyes blank and forgettable. This woman was different.While I stared at myself in the mirror, I looked down at my belly, my hand moving on its own accord as I tried to feel what Layla had felt. I was always

[Valerie]I’d been sticking to the medication timetable the doctor gave me as if it was religion. The cramps were easing up substantially, but the nausea remained. I noticed that the moment I so much as sniffed any other food besides red meat, bile rose in my throat and had me rushing to the nearest hole.When Friday came along, I tried again to talk to Chloe, but the mongrel of a woman again chose to ignore my existence. Whatever, I thought, I’d be doing her a favor later that night, because just like me, she had a bone to pick with the Alpha, except I didn’t choose to become bitter about it and make everyone around me miserable. I chose to do something about it.In all honesty, my choice twisted my insides as soon as I arrived at the witches’ den with Layla. I started to believe that the only reason she was being my friend was to keep an eye on me. I didn’t mind much, since I had no reason to betray them. I was finally getting the reven

[Valerie]The witches fought hard, and celebrated harder. The feast I had once experienced was nothing compared to the one they had tonight, with two tables spread out in buffet-style. The witches were elated, their eyes sparkling in all their crimson glory, as they danced around the fresh scalp of the Alpha that once led my pack. Garrett.I had little remorse for his death. The abuse I was dealt, both directly and indirectly because of him, made me feel as if I should have watched him suffer a bit more than he did when Zetta sliced the skin off his scalp. But it was done, and I vowed to remember the look on the wolf’s face whenever I stood before the werewolves who would do nothing but bow down before me. I had the witches on my side, and I felt unstoppable.“Why aren’t you drinking?” Layla waltzed her towards me, the smell of liquor on her tongue as she slurred her words a clear indication that she was already drunk.“I can’t

[Valerie]** Eight Years Ago **Pleasant Hill High. The bane of my existence. I’d just had to wake up and make my own sandwiches for lunch, as well as my dad’s, and missed the bus to school. So now I walked on reluctant feet, towards the one place I hated the most.As I entered between the large metal gates, Mateo sprung out and startled me. I had to take a moment to collect myself. As if I didn’t already shake with nerves!“Mat! You douchebag!” I yelled at him as we both made our way up the paved pathway.“You should have seen the look on your face! I could have sworn you saw a ghost.”“I guess I’m unlucky like that. It was just you.” I rolled my eyes and shoved him playfully.Mateo was a year older than I was, and he already got his wolf about a month ago. He was also the only one who bothered to speak to me, both in school and amongst the pack.Mateo was very different from the oth

[Valerie]** Eight Years Ago **The rain had finally stopped, but Mateo still held me as the sun came back up and dried off any trace that the rain came down today. I didn’t want to leave, I just wanted the comfort of my best friend’s warm embrace until I knew nothing else.I had no idea that I wasn’t theirs. For fifteen years I walked around thinking that Agnes and Harold were my parents. I thought that Agnes had carried me in her womb, and Harold was the first to carry me in his arms when the doctor handed me to him as a newborn baby. I thought that when my parents saw my brown eyes for the first time, they saw love in them. I thought that when I was born, I forged a deeper connection between Harold and Agnes, and sealed their fate as mates and spouses. I thought, but I was wrong.It all seemed to make sense now, the longer Mateo and I sat in silence and watched the sun consume the clouds. They never did look at me with love in their eyes. Not